Rising real estate costs, higher rent and interest rates, higher maintenance costs, and similar factors require that homeowners and businesses become more efficient in their use of space. Such efficiency requires employment of previously unused space, and it typically requires flexibility in the manner in which space is employed.
An example of new approaches to efficient space use involves the use of channeled wall panel in retail establishments. The recent requirement in retail marketing, such as clothing and shoe stores, for rapid turnover of merchandise resulting from the high inventory costs, combined with ever changing product lines and styles, requires attractive, efficient and very flexible display capacity. Channeled wall panel is a conventional answer to this problem. Channeling within the panel into which support or display members may be inserted as desired allows efficient use of wall space in an attractive, flexible and efficient manner.
Typical channeled wall panel includes J- or T-cross section shaped slots which have been routed or otherwise formed below the exposed surface of the panel with the throat of the J or T open to the exposed surface. Extruded structural members of corresponding cross-section are typically inserted into the slots to finish the structure. Portions of the panel between the surface of the panel and the flanges of the structural members (base of the J or top of the T) absorb the loads placed on the structural members by hangers, display racks, or other devices attached to the structural members.
Conventional channels are generally tubular in cross section and hollow extruded material forms a generally flat back surface, curves around to form the front surfaces of the two flanges generally parallel to the back surface, and then turns generally perpendicular to the back surface to form the open throat of the structural member. Recent adaptations include small protrusions that extend from the flanges generally parallel to the back surface in order to increase the cross sectional area of panel material between buried channel and the surface of the panel, and thus to increase the holding power of the channel.